Division News...

West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2007 winners announced

On Friday, Oct. 19, at the Parkersburg Art Center, 16 awards totaling $29,000 were presented to West Virginia artists and craftspeople. The awards ceremony preceded the opening of the West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2007 at the Parkersburg Art Center.

The exhibition, presented biennially by the West Virginia Division of Culture and History, features works in the areas of painting, sculpture, printmaking, drawing, photography, mixed media and crafts by 67 West Virginia artists. It will be on display through Feb. 8, 2008.

All 81 pieces in the exhibit, including the award winners, were chosen by jurors Michael Northrop, professor of art and humanities at Glen Oaks Community College in Centreville, Mich., and Jerry Slipman, owner of the Pacini Lubel Gallery in Seattle, Wash. Northrop and Slipman viewed more than 330 submissions to select the show. The awards money is made available through the West Virginia Commission on the Arts (WVCA) of the West Virginia Division of Culture and History (WVDCH) from funds appropriated by the West Virginia Legislature. The awards constitute one of the largest endowments for any single juried art exhibition in the country.

Northrop said “The artwork submitted to this show exhibited a rich diversity in form, subject and style. It was obvious to me from the beginning of the adjudication that West Virginia has a dynamic arts community with national class artists.”

Slipman added “The citizens of West Virginia should take great pride in both the quality of creation and the expanse of artistic expression submitted by the artisans of West Virginia.”

Three $5,000 Governor’s Awards, one of which is designated the D. Gene Jordon Memorial Award, and five $2,000 Awards of Excellence are purchase awards and those works become part of the West Virginia State Museum Collection. In addition, eight $500 Merit Awards were given.

Many of the works on display are for sale and may be purchased through the close of the exhibition. The Parkersburg Art Center’s hours are Tuesday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday from 1 - 5 p.m. The Center is located at 725 Market St., Parkersburg. The reception for the exhibition was sponsored by Camden-Clark Memorial Hospital and Mountain State Blue Cross Blue Shield.

Since its inception in 1979, the West Virginia Juried Exhibition has been held at the Cultural Center, State Capitol Complex, Charleston. Within the extensive mission of the WVDCH is the element of arts promotion throughout West Virginia. In order to further this goal, the Commission and the Division decided to have the exhibition travel to Parkersburg, sharing the best in art with yet another community in the Mountain State.

“Since I’ve become commissioner, one of my goals has been to touch every part of our state with outstanding cultural events. We are excited to have the opportunity to expand our outreach to the community by placing the West Virginia Juried Exhibition 2007 in Parkersburg,” said Randall Reid-Smith, commissioner of the WVDCH.

For more information about the West Virginia Juried Exhibition, call Emily Ritchey, exhibits coordinator for the Division, at (304) 558-0220, ext. 128, or Abby Hayhurst, executive director of the Parkersburg Arts Center, at (304) 485-3859.

The West Virginia Division of Culture and History, an agency of the West Virginia Department of Education and the Arts, brings together the state’s past, present and future through programs and services in the areas of archives and history, the arts, historic preservation and museums. Its administrative offices are located at the Cultural Center in the State Capitol Complex in Charleston, which also houses the state archives and state museum. The Cultural Center is West Virginia’s official showcase for the arts. The agency also operates a network of museums and historic sites across the state. For more information about the Division’s programs, visit www.wvculture.org. The Division of Culture and History is an Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Employer.

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Media Note: A complete list of artists in the exhibition, including the winners, is enclosed. Please note artists from your area. Photos of the award-winning works in the exhibition can be found on our website Friday evening, Oct. 19, at www.wvculture.org/museum/wvje2007/press.html.